"He gives it no thought, he has neither the knowledge nor the understanding to say: Half of it I burned in fire, on its coals I even baked bread, I roasted meat and ate; and the rest of it I make into an abomination, to a block of wood I bow down." See how their eyes are too coated to see and their hearts too coated to understand, for he does not reflect, he does not take to heart such a simple matter. What is the point here? I told you earlier: they do not know and do not understand. There are things that require knowledge, there are things that require understanding, reflection. But simple matters require no reflection at all; even a child can grasp them. This is what he is saying: all that is needed here is what? To take it to heart. Simply to take it to heart, what we might call an external observation, without depth, without a long day of study. He says one need only take it to heart: did I not burn half of it in fire, and even bake with it, so how then can I make the rest into an abomination?
The Malbim explains that he repeats this twice. If I made it into a deity, how can it be that the rest of it I make into an abomination? If I made it into a deity, how did I go and roast meat and bread on the very other portion of it? And if he did this in order to worship the spiritual powers, as though this would draw down the powers, the influences of the spiritual forces, an image, an idol serving as such, then to a block of wood I bow down? How can it be that a block of wood should have the power and the capacity to draw down the influence of the supreme spiritual forces? How could such a simple thing, a block of wood, a thing that decays and rots, make an impression on the spiritual powers, the stars, the constellations, and draw abundance from them? How could such a thing be?
The Malbim says: first of all, what is written here, "abomination," always expresses contempt for idolatry. "You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it." A "block of wood" always expresses lowliness, something worth nothing, merely a piece of wood. Now note this: the Malbim draws attention to a change. Here it is written "the rest of it I make into an abomination." But in verse 17 he said "remainder": "and its remainder he makes into a god." What is the difference between "the rest" (yitro) and "its remainder" (she'erito)? There is a distinction that the Malbim has already given us several times: there is a difference between "remainder" (she'ar) and "what is left over" (notar). The difference is that she'ar is what we set aside deliberately from the outset, while notar is what remains on its own. It is simple. Suppose there are pretzels and biscuits here, and I decided to take the biscuits, meaning what remains here is the pretzels, they are left over here (notar). Notar means it remained on its own. I had no intention of leaving the pretzels here, I only wanted to take the biscuits, and the pretzels remained as a matter of course. But if I genuinely wanted to serve the people pretzels, and I took the biscuits because I thought perhaps they were not so fresh, then I took the biscuits and the pretzels remained here deliberately so that there would be something for the people. That is to say, she'ar (remainder) is when I intend for there to be a remainder, that a portion should be left deliberately. Notar, on the other hand, is: I took what I wanted, what was here, and the moment I did not take it, it remained as a matter of course. Notar is not deliberate. This is what the Malbim says: now understand the difference. At first he said "its remainder" (she'erito), because at first he is speaking of the man taking and carving from the idol and making it into bread and roast and so on, and deliberately leaving a remainder for the sake of the idol. But here, where he is speaking in disparagement, it is as though he says the reverse. For in truth what he wanted was simply a good lunch. Only a piece of wood happened to remain, and he says, come, let us go ahead and make a god. You understand, this is far more disparaging, far more contemptuous. At first he speaks, as it were, of what his true intent was. Afterward he comes to express mockery of him. To mock him, he says: know that I honored him too much when I said there was a "remainder" that he deliberately left for the sake of the idol. No, he simply came to make bread, and said, what a pity about this piece of wood that is left over, so all right, come, let us make something out of this too. You understand, that is, to intensify his disgrace he tells the truth: this is not even a deliberate remainder (she'ar), it can only be called leftover (notar).
"He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot save his soul, nor say: Is there not a lie in my right hand?" "He feeds on ashes" (ro'eh efer): a deluded heart has led him astray to become a shepherd of ashes. What is "a shepherd of ashes"? Rashi explains...
The meaning is to take as one's shepherd someone half of whom is already ashes. Whom did he take as his shepherd? For the other half of the block of wood is already in his oven, is it not? So what have you taken as your shepherd? A shepherd of whom? One who is ashes? One half of whom has already become ashes, he will be your shepherd?
The Malbim explains: "a shepherd of ashes" refers to the man himself. It is telling you: the man who does not know that there is within him a portion of God from above, a man who does not grasp that within him is a lofty, supreme spiritual soul. If a person grasped this, how could it enter his mind to come and bow down to an image, to a block of wood, when this block of wood is even lower than you? For you still speak; below you is the animal, and below that is the vegetative. So a plant is two levels below you. How could you go and make such a thing for yourself? Rather, of necessity you did not relate to your body as a portion of God from above, as a place that houses the supreme soul; rather, how did you relate to your body? As though your body were merely a piece of inanimate matter, merely a heap of ashes. This is what he says: "a shepherd of ashes," he leads the ashes and the body. His body is regarded as ashes, merely a physical thing. Therefore "a deluded heart has led him astray." "A deluded heart" means his heart that mocks, hitulim meaning laughter and mockery, his heart mocks and laughs at him, until it turned him from the path, so that he was capable of taking a stone which is inanimate, or wood which is vegetative, and making it into a god for himself. Why? Because you think your governance, that your body which shepherds, that its governance, is ashes, a physical, material thing. You did not understand that within you is a portion of God from above, so how could a spiritual being bow to a physical thing, to wood and stone?
"And he cannot save his soul." He does not reflect: how do I do such a thing when there is within me a divine soul? How do I subject the divine, intellectual soul to something inanimate or vegetative? "Nor say: Is there not a lie in my right hand?" At the very least he should have said: this lie is so clear that it is as if engraved on my right hand. "A lie in my right hand" means a plain lie. A plain thing is "in my right hand." Indeed, God swears by His right hand, for the right hand is, as it were, exposed and visible. So "a lie in my right hand" means he should have said to himself: this lie is so clear, it is like something in the right hand, as if engraved on his right hand. For a person performs his main actions with his right hand. So if something is engraved on his right hand, he always sees it. "Is there not a lie in my right hand," how did you not reflect? Did you not notice that the lie here is so plain? But what? Since he feeds on ashes, he does not even know that there is a soul within him; he looks upon his existence only as a physical, material reality. So in truth he is worse than the idol, for the idol is still something with a measure of the spiritual, still possessing a vegetative soul, a plant has a vegetative soul in the wood. But you do not relate at all to one who has a soul. You relate to yourself only as ashes, while the idol still has a vegetative soul, so it is, as it were, actually better than you.
"Remember these things, Yaakov, and Yisrael, for you are My servant; I formed you, you are a servant to Me; Yisrael, do not forget Me." The prophet continues and says: remember these, Yaakov and Yisrael, for you are My servant. The Malbim says: but you are Yaakov, you know the greatness of man from the standpoint of the form within him, from the standpoint of the spiritual portion within him. And especially you, Yisrael, for we always know that Yaakov expresses the lower level, the "heel" (akev), while Yisrael expresses our far loftier greatness, a title of nobility and mastery. He says: you know that your soul is exceedingly lofty, even above the ministering angels. As the name Yisrael indicates. What does the name Yisrael indicate? "He strove (va-yasar) with an angel and prevailed." You fought with an angel and prevailed over it, meaning your greatness surpasses the greatness of the angel. And all the more so above the crooked (akum), for you are My servant. You are not like the nations who serve other gods; rather, you are My servant, so you know your spiritual greatness, you are not "a shepherd of ashes," you do not relate to the body as a shepherd of ashes, as if it were merely a physical thing; you are aware of the spiritual portion within physical existence.
And beyond being My servant by the very fact that you serve Me, from the very beginning "I formed you a servant to Me." You were formed, meaning from the very moment of your birth, from the very fact that I gave you a supreme divine soul, I formed you from the outset as a servant to Me. There is a great difference between something formed from the outset for a particular purpose and something that only at a certain stage was converted to that purpose. When something is formed from the outset for a purpose, this certainly indicates a far greater eminence. So he says: I formed you a servant to Me, from the outset I gave you a portion of God from above so that you would be a servant to Me. Therefore, "Yisrael, do not forget Me," you must remember Me and not forget Me and serve other gods, for you recognize the spiritual portion within you. This returns to what he said earlier: how could one who recognizes the spiritual portion within himself go and take something so lowly, so physical, like stone and wood, and make it into a god, when you are on a level far, far higher than it? The very fact that you are My servant, and moreover that I formed you a servant to Me, this compels that you, Yisrael, do not forget Me, do not forget Hashem your God.
"I have wiped away your transgressions like a thick cloud, and your sins like a cloud; return to Me, for I have redeemed you." "I have wiped away your transgressions like a thick cloud." Even though at present the iniquities separate between you and Hashem your God, it follows that the Holy One, blessed be He, cannot, as it were, rest His presence among us. The reason is that the iniquities are in fact a barrier, they are like a thick cloud. Just as a person who wishes to look and see and receive the rays of the sun cannot do so through the thick clouds, so too our iniquities are a barrier, like an iron partition, between us and Hashem. When the Holy One, blessed be He, wishes to redeem us, He says to us: "I have wiped away your transgressions like a thick cloud." Just as the thick cloud and the cloud are wiped away by what? By the power of the wind that scatters them, so I will wipe away your transgressions. And your sins I will wipe away like a cloud.
Note, there is a change here. There is "thick cloud" (av), there is "cloud" (anan), there are "sins" (chata'im), there are "transgressions" (pesha'im). The Malbim says: transgressions, a transgression (pesha) is done deliberately, one who transgresses. This refers to one who committed the iniquity willfully. Therefore the transgressions are great, they are like thick clouds between us and Hashem. By contrast, the clouds are thinner, and these correspond to "your sins." These sins are inadvertent errors, and therefore they resemble a cloud. It is not a thick cloud but a cloud. The thick cloud darkens greatly, the cloud does not darken to such a degree. But all of this the Holy One, blessed be He, says on condition: "return to Me, for I have redeemed you." If you return to Me, Hashem says, I have redeemed you. Seemingly the phrasing should have been "return to Me, for I will redeem you." The Malbim says: the redemption is already prepared, and if you only return, it is as if I have already redeemed you from of old, it is already here. It is not something that is destined to be, it is not something that... rather "for I have redeemed you."
I just read Rav Bravda, may Hashem send him a complete recovery, he is lying on his sickbed, ill, Hashem protect us. He tells of one of the great men of the generation whom he knows, and he says he is truly a great man, who dreamed that the Chafetz Chaim told him that the redemption is already here. So he dreamed that the Chafetz Chaim told him. He asked him: what does this mean, for the Mashiach has not yet come? He answered him: the meaning is that the Mashiach is already among us, and what is needed is a little more effort to allow him to be revealed, so that he may truly redeem us. The meaning of the matter is that the Holy One, blessed be He, says "for I have redeemed you," behold I have already redeemed you, the redemption is already prepared. On what does the matter depend? On repentance. If you only return, behold you will see that the redemption is already here. It is not something that needs to be created and made from nothing and then undergo a process. The redemption is already here; with a light repentance one can already attain the redemption.
"Sing, O heavens, for Hashem has done it; shout, O depths of the earth; break forth into song, O mountains, O forest and every tree within it; for Hashem has redeemed Yaakov, and in Yisrael He glorifies Himself." "Sing, O heavens," the heavens will sing to Hashem. Why? Because then it will be plain to all that Hashem has done it. All will recognize: who created heaven and earth? The Holy One, blessed be He. A great joy, as it were, will fill all the worlds when it will be revealed and clear to all, and every creature will know that You created it, and every being will understand that You made it. And then there will no longer be those who err in that vain belief that the Holy One, blessed be He, being exalted and lofty, abandoned the governance of the earth, is not concerned with the lowly and those below, and left the governance of the world to the heavenly bodies, the constellations, the stars. That belief will not exist, for Hashem has done it. It will be clear to all: "shout, O depths of the earth." Why? Because there they will see that the Holy One, blessed be He, has complete providence. And not only general providence: general providence means not over each and every detail, but providence over the world as a whole that it should endure. For example, as there is over animals. We say there is providence from the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Rishonim hold regarding animals that this is general providence. The approach of the Baal Shem Tov is not so, but the accepted approach is as the Sefer HaIkkarim phrases it, he calls it "species providence." Hashem watches so that the species of elephants is not wiped out. And if He decides that yes, then yes, it will be wiped out. This is species providence, providence over the species as a whole. By contrast, for the people of Yisrael it is individual providence, over each and every one, and in every single moment, over what he does.
And this is the continuation. He says: do not think there will be only general providence, so that we say "shout, O depths of the earth," the earth as a whole the Holy One, blessed be He, watches over. He says: no, the mountains too will break forth into song, the forest and every tree within it as well. This comes to tell you the providence is individual providence, with great precision, even over the vegetative, even over the particulars, and every tree within it the Holy One, blessed be He, watches over. By what will His providence be recognized? "For Hashem has redeemed Yaakov, and in Yisrael He glorifies Himself." Behold you see that the Holy One, blessed be He, redeems Yaakov, for "Yaakov" is the people of Yisrael at their lower level, "and in Yisrael He glorifies Himself," meaning the people of Yisrael in the sense of nobility, at their higher level, that Hashem will perform for them miracles, signs, and wonders to His glory.
"Thus says your Redeemer, and the One who formed you from the womb: I am Hashem, who makes all, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by Myself." "And the One who formed you from the womb" - Rashi says: what is "from the womb"? Even from when the children struggled within her, already then I formed you and chose you. Thus says Hashem, your Redeemer and the One who formed you from the womb, I am Hashem who makes all, who stretched out the heavens by Myself, who spread out the earth. The Radak notes: it is written here "alone" (levadi), "who spread out the earth by Myself" (me'iti). The Radak explains: I am the first of all created beings, and at the time of creation nothing at all was here, in truth everything was created from Me. There was only I alone. And everything is from Me. When the heavens were created, there was only I alone. And afterward, all that you see here in nature, all of it was formed from Me. So it is brought in Bereishit Rabbah: all agree that angels were not created on the first day. When were the angels created? On the second day. Why not on the first day? So that people would not say that Michael was stretching out the southern side of the firmament and Gavriel its northern side, and the Holy One, blessed be He, measured out its middle. So they would not say there was help and assistance, the angels, each one taking a direction, this one pulling from here, that one from there, and so the world was created. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: no, alone. On the first day of creation, alone; there is no other power in creation and in the world, so they cannot say that anyone was My helper.
Thus says Hashem: the Malbim explains that here a new subject actually begins. The Malbim says that here it is a kind of new prophecy, at whose start he speaks of the redemption from Bavel, and from it he will continue to the future redemption. "Thus says Hashem, your Redeemer" - this is in the future. "And the One who formed you from the womb" - this refers to the past. "I am Hashem who makes all." The Malbim says: there were those who believed that the world was, as it were, created by Hashem out of necessity. Just as a shadow is produced by the sun, and the sun did not go about producing anything, but automatically the moment there is a sun and there is an object, there is a shadow, that is simply reality. So too there were those who wished to say that the existence of creation flows necessarily from Him. Not some will that existed at a certain time to create a world, but as if it necessarily had to be, just as a shadow is produced by the sun. This was a belief, the vain belief of Aristotle.
There were those who said that there was primordial formless matter, and the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, found matter, played with it, and created a world. That is to say, the Holy One, blessed be He, did not, as it were, create the entire reality and existence, but the matter already existed, and the Holy One, blessed be He, being an "El," and "El" as we know means a possessor of power, the Holy One, blessed be He, came, saw matter, and formed a world from it. This was a second vain belief that existed. Against this he comes and says: "I am Hashem who makes." "Makes" is always the description of one who does a thing by his choice, by his will. I made, I decided to make. Had I not wished, I would not have made. It is not something that flows from Me automatically, rather I made it. Here he refuted the view of Aristotle, who claimed it came into being of necessity. No, I, Hashem, make. Now what will you say, partly? He says: no, I, Hashem, make all. Do not say there was matter here and I began to work with it and formed a world. "Makes all" means even the primordial formless matter, that too I made. I am Hashem who makes all.
What will you say? There were those who claimed that creation unfolded through causes and effects (illot ve'alulim). This is an expression you will find among the early sages, meaning what today is called cause and result. Even today we do not speak in this language, but this too appears among the early sages. Cause and result means there was a cause, and from that cause another thing resulted. Everything, if we wish to examine it, one can trace back to its preceding cause. How do you exist, what are you doing here? I was born. From where were you born? From your father. Mention his name. From where was your father born? From my mother, and so on. All of this is called cause and result. Each one wishes to see what its source is, and so on; one can descend to smaller and finer particulars. What I just spoke of is only a very general example. So they believed that creation was, as it were, produced through all sorts of unfoldings until a world came to be. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: no, I, Hashem, stretch out the heavens alone, without any helper. And know that the world was not produced through causes, but from Me alone. Not through powers that were created, and those powers produced other things, which in turn were produced from other powers that formed a world. No. I, Hashem, stretch out the heavens; I spread out the heavens here with My own hands. Not through powers created by other powers, effects created from causes, and so on in this manner.
"Who spread out the earth by Myself." There are those who claim that the earth was handed over to nature. The Holy One, blessed be He, created a world, the Holy One, blessed be He, set it going and turned it, all of it from Him. But after the Holy One, blessed be He, gave the world the impetus, so to speak, the momentum to begin turning, that was it, it turned and went on its way. The Holy One, blessed be He, is no longer concerned with what happens here, it is all natural. All that happens here in the world operates according to nature. Eat healthily, you will be healthy. Do not eat healthily, you will be sick. There is a virus, you have such-and-such a chance of being harmed by it. If you take precautions, you might still be harmed, if not, you will not be harmed. There is no heavenly decree, no providence, nothing, everything operates according to nature. How does he refute this? He says to them: "who spread out the earth by Myself." "Who spread out the earth" means: if you reflect on the spreading out of the earth, it is not natural. For how can it be that the dust, which is heavy, heavier than water, how can it be that He spreads out the earth upon the water? Is that natural? Take a clod of earth and set it upon water. The island must, must be connected to the land below. It cannot rest upon the water. In the manner that we know, the entire globe in fact rests spread out upon the water. So the Holy One, blessed be He, says: well, is that nature? You see that all reality and the existence of the world is not nature, it is against nature. How is it so? He says, if not from Me. How is it, if not that I sustain this reality at every single moment? Here the Holy One, blessed be He, as we said, refuted all the views of heresy that were accepted in their time.
"Who annuls the signs of the diviners and makes fools of the soothsayers, who turns the wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish." "Who annuls the signs of the diviners": since I stretched out the heavens, Rashi says, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, therefore I can also annul them. What are "badim" (diviners)? These are the astrologers who read by the signs of the heavens. He observes all sorts of celestial phenomena, the heavenly bodies, a certain star on the horizon of another star, and all sorts of things of this kind, and from these he draws conclusions. This is called "signs of the diviners." Why does he call them badim? Because these are fabricated tales that they tell you. Why is this called fabricated tales? Because they fabricate things from their own hearts. This is called a thing invented from the heart. So "signs of the diviners," those things fabricated from the heart, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I annul them. For from where does he derive this? From the signs of the heavens. "Be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens." Hashem says: I created the heavens, I can also change them. As the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Avraham: step out of your astrology. What do you see, Tzedek (Jupiter) in this direction and that moon in another direction? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: I will move Tzedek to another direction. Avram will not bear a child, Avraham will bear a child. The Holy One, blessed be He, rules over nature, and when He wishes, He can also change the course of the stars.
And since the astrologers of Bavel read by the stars, and this was one of their fixed methods for ruling and for knowing how to conduct their governance, as it is written "let them stand now and save you, the stargazers," the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I will annul the signs of their diviners. Just as I annulled the signs of the diviners of Egypt, who had all sorts of conclusions based on their seeing some star of misfortune facing them, that this would cause them to have blood in the wilderness and not enter the land, and all sorts of things, and that their leaders would be smitten in water and so on. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: I annulled their signs, the people of Yisrael went out of Egypt, the people of Yisrael were redeemed, and the people of Yisrael entered the land and inherited it. I annulled the signs of the diviners of Egypt, and the Holy One, blessed be He, says: the signs of the diviners of the Babylonians, those too I will annul.
Rabbi Avraham ibn Ezra explains that badim derives from the root badad. What is badad? Alone, isolated. The Ibn Ezra says: there are souls that have the power to isolate themselves and foretell the future. And not by way of wisdom. It is not because he is learned and draws conclusions, not at all. Rather, through the power of his isolation he can reach a state resembling prophecy. Through isolation he has the power to know hidden things. So this is the meaning of "who annuls the signs of the diviners," from those badim, those who had power through the power of isolation. "And soothsayers," the sages of the constellations. "And wise men," these are those who read by the liver and the shoulder. There were those who knew by examining the liver, I do not know how one examines the liver, I have no idea. By the shoulder, they had methods by which they observed tremors in the body. Through all sorts of bodily tremors it was possible to know; one who looks at the whole books that were written, books of the ancients, to know based on all sorts of bodily tremors, if a person's right eyelid suddenly twitches, what does it mean? For every such thing they tell you, as it were, what it means. Today this has no meaning at all, but in their time they attached much meaning to it. So the Holy One, blessed be He, says: all those signs of the isolated ones, the soothsayers, the wise men, all of them, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I annul them, for I determine reality.
The Malbim explains: "who annuls," after I created and I watch over the upper and the lower worlds with a chosen, willed governance. "Chosen" (bechirit) means according to Hashem's will and choice. Not like the shadow that flows and emanates from the sun without asking the sun, as we explained regarding "El," but from the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, chose to create a world. Consequently, I annul the signs of the diviners and the constellations. If there is something that the constellation indicates, if it is My will that it not be so, I annul it. And if a sign is found in the course of the constellations that Yerushalayim will not be rebuilt, then I will annul the signs of the heavens, I will annul them, and Yerushalayim will indeed be rebuilt. "And makes fools of the soothsayers." Those who grasp through the art of sorcery what will be in the future, the Malbim asks: what is "yeholel" (makes fools)? They resemble madmen and lunatics. Why? Because everything he sees happening turns out the opposite. Yeholel means: he goes mad, saying, what, I see it should be cold here and it turns out otherwise. So the knowledge of the soothsayers Hashem "makes fools," as it were turning them into madmen who do not understand what they are seeing.
And not only that, but also "who turns the wise men backward." Who are these wise men? The Malbim explains: these are the natural philosophers. Them the Holy One, blessed be He, will turn backward, "and makes their knowledge foolish." The natural philosophers used to grasp what was destined to be according to the laws of nature. The Malbim says: they in their reasoning went forward. What does this mean? In order to investigate, they investigated from the cause to the effect. That is, if I see the cause, then from it I infer what the effect is. If I see fire, then necessarily there must be smoke. If I see clouds, then necessarily there must be rain. Who said there will be rain? You did not see it, so how do you say it? This is from the cause to the effect. When I see the cause, I know, I am already prepared for it in advance. There are people, you know, he arrived, now there is going to be a commotion here. You see, you do not need to be a genius, to infer from the cause to the effect. You know the type, you know the man, one who is loud, noisy, quarrelsome, this and that, you only saw him and you say now there is going to be a commotion here. See, you need to be clever, to infer from the cause to the effect. You saw something, you already draw the conclusion. This is a way of drawing logical conclusions, a way of one plus one, drawing conclusions by seeing a thing and inferring what will come of it. Will it necessarily be so? With Sherlock Holmes it worked that way, that is always the case when you write a book, it can go splendidly. But the chances that it really is so, that precisely when you see something it will necessarily be, how many times have we seen clouds and you already said, listen, torrential rain is expected for us, and everything the forecasters predicted and saw and synoptic maps and... the Holy One, blessed be He, turns the wise men backward. Suddenly, yes, in the Jordan, the rainfall level rose. So, what about us? The Holy One, blessed be He, turns the wise men backward. What you see from the cause, and from it you infer the effect, does not necessarily come to pass.
And then, the Malbim says, what happens? They will turn and go backward. This is called "forward": I see what is happening now, I infer what will be ahead. There is a reverse way of drawing logical conclusions: from the effect to the cause. For example, why did rain not come through the offerings of the princes? Because there was wind. You understand? For the forecasters must always explain themselves the next day. Why is there also a forecast the next day? For you have a forecast today for three days, why is one needed the next day too? Because the next day he always has to explain why yesterday what he said did not happen. So he says, yes, there were unexpected winds from the south that shifted the clouds this way and that, and there was some cloudburst that caused such-and-such, and therefore what we said yesterday is irrelevant. But what I am saying today, now listen well, what I am telling you today, you will see it will come to pass as I say. One must earn a living, gentlemen, a person has a livelihood, he must keep his job. So this is called: when he sees that he cannot proceed from the cause to the effect, then afterward, in hindsight, this is called a commentator. This is called a commentator. A commentator will always explain to you the sequence. After it has happened, he will explain to you the sequence. Why he did this, and that minister did that, and this one did that. Come, predict something in advance. They do not know. But afterward he will always explain to you what will happen, how it happened, and why it happened, and what brought it about. Ah, but what you said did not come to pass? Yes, I will tell you the reasons. On this the Malbim says: this too you can infer only through nature. But if I govern the world above nature, then consequently even the wise men who at first wished to reason from the cause to the effect, and saw that the thing should have come according to nature, behold it did not come, so what do you understand? That there is Someone who governs reality. Behold you see that Hashem confounded their knowledge. These things do not flow from natural causes. So it is "who turns the wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish." The Holy One, blessed be He, turns the wisdom of the wise men backward, meaning that after the fact they will try to understand why what we predicted earlier did not go as expected, "and makes their knowledge foolish," they will understand that this matter has no natural cause at all, only the finger of God. For according to the understanding of how he saw things by nature, everything he predicted in advance should have come to pass. Why did it not happen? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, turns the wise men backward. What you predict in advance about what will be, Hashem turns you backward. He says to you: no, sir, you will in the end be forced to give an explanation of why it did not happen so. This is called "backward." Not to see ahead, but in hindsight, after it has happened, to give explanations of why it did not happen as you predicted. This is called turning him backward, that he should go backward to try to find the reasons his plans went awry. And then he will surely reach the conclusion that the Holy One, blessed be He, governs the world, and therefore reality does not happen exactly as he expects or as he wishes.
The Malbim explains a third interpretation of why those people who read by the clouds and the like are called badim. Those who know through all sorts of sorcery, why are they called badim? We saw one interpretation from the phrase that they fabricate things from their hearts. Another interpretation from the fact that they sit alone (badad). The Malbim explains a third interpretation: because they were accustomed to wear a linen ephod (efod bad). A linen ephod was a kind of ephod through which they had, as it were, all sorts of ways to know hidden things, distinguished by thousands of distinctions from the ephod of the Kohen Gadol, through which one could truly know by means of the stones of the choshen. They would take a linen ephod, as we saw with many, "he made himself an ephod and terafim." Who was that? Michah. Correct, Michah made himself an ephod and terafim. And so we see that they had a way of making an ephod through which they knew hidden things. So too here "who annuls the signs of the diviners" means those linen ephods through which they would try, as it were, to reach conclusions about what was destined to be.
"Who confirms the word of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers, who says of Yerushalayim: It shall be inhabited, and of the cities of Yehudah: They shall be rebuilt, and its ruins I will raise up." "Who confirms the word of His servant," Rashi explains: this refers to Moshe. "And the counsel of His messengers," which angels are spoken of here? The angel who said to Yaakov: "Yisrael shall be your name." I fulfilled My word, I fulfilled what I promised them, and here too I will fulfill the counsel of My prophets, that I promise Yerushalayim it shall be inhabited. The people of Yisrael will return to Yerushalayim. The Malbim explains that this is a continuation of the previous verse. Whatever it is, whether the indication of the stars, or the indication of the soothsayers, or the indication of the natural philosophers, all of them show Bavel will succeed and Yisrael will fail. According to nature, so all of them show. Thus the stargazers, the cloud-readers, the wise men, all show it thus. And especially according to the natural philosophers: an empire like Bavel, what are its chances of failing? And a country in a failing land like Yisrael, which suffered exiles and suffered wars and conquests, what are its chances of succeeding? So all of them, according to nature and also according to the heavenly bodies, see that Yerushalayim will not succeed and Bavel will succeed. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: I will overturn reality. Why? Because I confirm the word of His servant. What is the meaning of this?
The Malbim explains: the miracle will be for two reasons. One reason, the decree of the righteous, the prayer of the righteous. As Eliyahu the prophet said: "As I live, as Hashem lives, there shall be no dew nor rain these years except by my word." Hashem fulfills the decree of the righteous one. The moment the righteous one decreed, even though it was not pleasing to the Holy One, blessed be He, to punish the people of Yisrael, yet a righteous man decrees and the Holy One, blessed be He, fulfills. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: who confirms the word of His servant. I do not say it as prophecy, but as a decree. I speak and decree and so it will come to pass. Yes? That is, sometimes the prophet decrees a thing. Just as Eliyahu did not say in prophecy that I foresee there will be no rain, he did not say that. Eliyahu said: by my word I decree there will be no rain. On this the Holy One, blessed be He, says: who confirms the word of His servant. The righteous one who serves Me, I confirm his word. A further matter: in order to fulfill the prophecy, the prophet needs a sign and a wonder so that people will believe in his prophecy. Who says that what you foresee will come to pass? On this he says: "and fulfills the counsel of His messengers." What the messengers, and messengers here means emissaries, what they counseled in order to attain the goal, how? By his saying, in such-and-such time there will be a sign and a wonder, in order to ensure that all will believe in his prophecy, the counsel of His messengers Hashem fulfills. You said there would be a sign and a wonder in such-and-such time, Hashem says: I will fulfill your word, I will bring it to pass. "Who says of Yerushalayim: It shall be inhabited," and also the rest of the cities of Yehudah shall be rebuilt, and also the ruins of Yerushalayim, which are the Temple and its courtyards, all of them I will raise up, I Myself in My own glory. In effect the Holy One, blessed be He, says: everything they foresaw has no significance. Why? Because a righteous man has the power in his decree to nullify what is destined to be. That is, even though according to nature it should be as they saw, a righteous man comes and decrees, and the Holy One, blessed be He, fulfills. It follows, then, that through this Hashem overturns the orders of nature. There is, then, a reality in which not what you see naturally is what will come to pass. The righteous man, through his decree, can change reality. A second matter: there is also prophecy, and the prophet can establish something by the power of his prophecy, and the Holy One, blessed be He, fulfills, completes the proposal of His messengers. The Holy One, blessed be He, fulfills the proposal of the prophets. And what do the prophets say? "Who says of Yerushalayim: It shall be inhabited, and of the cities of Yehudah: They shall be rebuilt, and its ruins I will raise up." The Holy One, blessed be He, says: if so, all that you see in all those upper powers, in the heavenly bodies, the stars, in the natural philosophers, all of it the Holy One, blessed be He, says will be nullified, for I have the power to overturn everything, and I will change all of this.
Note, there is here "word" (davar), and there is here "counsel" (etza). "Who confirms the word of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers." The Malbim says: "word" is a decisive matter, a decree. "Except by my word," said Eliyahu. He decreed, a decree, there will be no rain. "Counsel" is when I desire something for the sake of some purpose. "They counseled a counsel," meaning to say something in order to attain something else through it. This is called for the sake of some purpose. So with the messengers it speaks of "counsel." For messengers, we explained, are the prophets, and the prophets say that something is destined to be. Why? So that people will believe their prophecy. For a prophet is permitted to say, in such-and-such time rain will fall, there will be some change in nature, so that people will believe that he is a true prophet. This is called "counsel." If so, this prophecy at its source is intended so that from now on they will accept his prophecy. Therefore it is called for the sake of a particular purpose; this is called "counsel."
"Who says to the deep: Be dry, and I will dry up your rivers." "Who says to the deep" (tzula), who is the tzula? Tzula is a term for a deep place, a depth. Bavel. He says to her: "be dry," meaning: dry up. "And I will dry up your rivers." Bavel sits upon rivers, so he likens, as it were, the slaying of its population to the drying up of the rivers. So the Holy One, blessed be He, tells them to dry up. The Radak explains further: why was Bavel likened to a deep? For two reasons. One reason, Bavel is full of water. A second reason, it is a valley. Therefore it is called a deep. A deep is always a deep place. A valley is a low place. Where were the dead of the flood shaken out? Shinar, in Bavel. Since it is a low place, there the dead of the flood were shaken out. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to the deep, which is Bavel, that it will be destroyed, will dry up, no good will remain in it, but it will be destroyed by Koresh. And likewise "I will dry up your rivers," the rivers I will, as it were, dry up. He does not mean to say it literally; here too the Radak says it is like a parable. Behold Bavel, which was built up, is destined to be destroyed. So see how the Holy One, blessed be He, overturned reality. Even though by the natural way Bavel is a deep and low place, by the natural way water gathers there, will such a place dry up? How will it dry up? A sunken place, water reaches it. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: I will decree upon it that it be destroyed and there will be no water there. "I will dry up your rivers." Is it possible that a low place with rivers there should dry up? The Holy One, blessed be He, says: no, in any case I will nullify it, I will dry it up. What does He mean by this? As we explained earlier, that the Holy One, blessed be He, in prophecy says: know that I will overturn the orders of nature. And the opposite of what you see and of what is revealed according to nature, so it will come to pass. For according to nature, a country that is succeeding, a country that has an army, a country that rules supreme, what are its chances of declining? What are its chances of falling? Small. It is in the parable here full of water, full of rivers. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: when I wish, it will dry up. Nothing will remain of it. Where is that Babylonian empire? What remains of that Babylonian empire? What remains is a divided, torn country, where every day you hear of 100 or 200 dead in some car bomb where one murders the other. What remains of it? Nothing remains of it. And long before that the downfall of Bavel already began. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: what today seems to you very successful, who says to Bavel: be dry, it will be destroyed, it will be in a state of dryness, parched. And by contrast Yerushalayim, which now seems to you dry, destroyed, desolate, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: precisely that one I will build. Yerushalayim, He fulfills, who says of Yerushalayim: it shall be inhabited, of the cities of Yehudah: they shall be rebuilt, its ruins I will raise up.
What is harder: to split the Sea of Reeds, or to place in the heart of a king to redeem Yisrael? A gentile king, to be a servant, an instrument in Hashem's hand, to redeem Yisrael. What would we think is greater? The splitting of the Sea of Reeds. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: no, know that the harder thing is to change the heart of the king. The Malbim says, he already senses the puzzlement: and although among human beings this would not be considered so much of a miracle, the Malbim says, know: free will is greater than the laws of nature. Free will is so strong that for the Holy One, blessed be He, to change and intervene in it is, as it were, stronger than to alter and overturn the orders of nature.